Highly Unorthodox
by Elegant Solace
Summary: Rouge wants to get over her distracting little "crush" on Knuckles. Knuckles refuses to see Rouge in any other light other than a selfish jewel thief. When something unexpected happens between them, will they both be able to handle the consequences or kill each other in the process?
1. Chapter 1

**So I've decided to write a story... Yeah... Anyway, I was inspired by the Knuckles x Rouge story Sea of Gems (which is M rated if you are interested), and I wondered how everything would go if a situation similar to that between the two was continued. And as in character as I can get it. Don't worry, there's mentions of stuff, but nothing M rated here. Anyway, Knuckles x Rouge, and I hope that everything is in character. Here we go...**

**I do not own Sonic or any of its characters. Really. I also have no money, so suing me is a big waste of time. **

* * *

The chill of predawn caused Rouge to wake up with a jolt. Her eyes went wide for a split second as her pupils darted around to examine her whereabouts, but within moments Rouge calmed down. Flashes of memory raced across her mind as she suddenly remembered everything.

Last night. Angel Island.

Knuckles.

She turned over slightly to look at the red ball of fur and quills resting beside her but silently winced as the action caused some of the dry leaves underneath her to crackle.

'_Next time, remember to bring sleeping bag_…' she grumbled to herself before looking over again at the still sleeping red echidna. Rouge smirked.

"Some guardian you are. I could have taken the Emerald in over half a dozen ways by now," she mused, mildly fascinated at how oddly harmless he looked while curled in a fetal position beside her. '_Silly Knucklehead, any fighter worth his salt would have at least flinched at the sound of those leaves_.' Knuckles, however, was sleeping as calmly as ever—which just another example of Rouge's obvious superiority, or so she thought. A ghost of another sardonic smile flitted across her face.

Looking down, it was difficult for her to believe at that moment that he was among the most powerful warriors on Mobius—that is, if she didn't bother to notice his hardened physique or those deadly barbs protruding from his fists. And of course she couldn't help but notice. Carefully she allowed her eyes to travel up his slumbering frame from his feet to his head.

Knuckles still wore his trademark shoes although they were scuffed and dirty from their brief fight the day before. Rouge briefly let her mind wonder how a hermit like him managed to always have a fresh supply of gloves and sneakers on hand. Perhaps something to do with Tails…

No matter.

Rouge's eyes traveled up his legs. Long, sinewy…not nearly as powerful as hers, Rouge noted, but still passable.

It was a rare treat for Rouge to be able to examine him like this. In nearly all of their encounters, he'd rarely been still enough for her to fully check him out. She had been forced to sneak quick peaks now and then. And the few times Knuckles had ever caught her in the act, he automatically thought she was sizing him up for weaknesses.

'_What a dope_…'

No, she had been sizing him up for something entirely different.

As she passed over his abdomen, she felt the urge to run her fingers over the chiseled muscles hidden under bright red fur. Her right hand twitched. Her left hand reached out to grab hold of it. What was she doing? Knuckles might be a heavy sleeper, but surely even he would wake up at the feel of her groping all over him. And then she'd have to deal with his predictable yelling and scowling—probably even his fists if he was pissed enough. Rouge concluded that she liked him better unconscious.

Rouge's aquamarine eyes eventually settled on his hands. What were his hands like? She had always wanted to know. Did he…did he even have fingers? Everyone else she'd ever met on Mobius wore gloves, but Knuckles wore an odd pair of mittens. What was he hiding underneath them? And for that matter, where on earth were his ears for goodness' sake?

Rouge cocked her head to the side and sighed. The sun was rising in the east. She was dallying too long here. Any minute now sleeping beauty would awake, and she wasn't feeling energetic enough to deal with him.

Maybe tomorrow… Maybe then she'd figure out the mystery underneath Knuckle's gloves or the enigma behind his ears. She gazed at him again. The waxing sunlight had made a game of shadows on his face…

Rouge blinked before cursing. She was hesitating again. She needed to leave, yet some sort of strange fascination kept her grounded. Damn that echidna! Hesitation was a weakness. Weakness was something that wasn't sustainable in her profession, and this was the last place to start practicing it. Slowly, Rouge stood up and extended her wings. She needed to gain altitude with just enough stealth to clear Angel Island's canopy without disturbing its sole resident.

The emotion of fascination wasn't alien to Rouge. She'd been fascinated by plenty of things in the past, namely jewels, but she'd rarely been fascinated by people. Rouge, by the tender age of twelve, had seen enough of the more sordid side of Mobius to reject the idea of establishing any true interest in others. The only being she could rely on was herself, and therefore the only person whose welfare and interest she should care about was Rouge the Bat.

And yet here she was obsessing over a red echidna. Who was she now? The pink one? The very idea of comparing herself to that Sonic-obsessed fangirl made Rouge want to retch. But hadn't she acted like some crazed schoolgirl? Flirting almost exclusively with him to the point where others were even starting to notice, allowing herself to be rescued by him like some damsel in distress—what had she been doing? She was much stronger than that; she was an accomplished government agent, master thief, and the only name printed on more wanted lists all over the globe than hers was probably Eggman. To expose so much of herself around one person—no matter how he was too dense to see the real motives behind her constant pestering—went against her general nature. This only frustrated her more.

That Knuckles! It was all his fault. One some days, she honestly wished he'd choke on something or just suffer painfully for simply causing her to feel. Stupid Knucklehead! The only male she'd ever known to resist her only because he was too dense to-

And that was when, nearly a year ago, she'd realized… That was it!

She was only fascinated with Knuckles because she couldn't—no wait—_**didn't**_ have him. Her feelings for Knuckles were akin to her thoughts when she learned the whereabouts of a new priceless jewel. The mental image of that precious mineral not in her clutches being thoroughly loved then completely forgotten would forever annoy her until she decided to do something about it—e.g. steal it. Then the feeling would be sated at least until she discovered a new jewel or a new job, and the process would start all over again.

Rouge had rationalized then that Knuckles was a novelty like a jewel. She only wanted him because she did not have him. Once she did, the desire would soon fade, and she could return to the level-headed spy she'd once been.

Unfortunately, Rouge ultimately found that it was not that simple. Months later, even after achieving her goal, she found herself drawn to him, visiting his island more and more frequently.

_Why_?

It only took Rouge a few minutes to clear Angel Island and its surrounding ocean. She landed gracefully down on a deserted beach and walked towards a nearby grove of some rather rough looking palm trees. Her eyes darted around until—

There!

She reached in between two trees to pull out a transparent plastic bag containing her usual skin tight clothing. She'd been prepared for this. Rouge had left Angel Island all but naked—yesterday's clothing, if she'd even taken the time to find them, was completely unsalvageable anyway. Quickly, she shimmied into the black material, noting an exceptional tightness around the middle. She sighed.

"Time to go on a diet, Rouge," the bat mumbled to herself. She'd miss her usual dinners at O'Hare's, but a fit Rouge was the best Rouge.

After gathering her things, Rouge launched herself in the opposite direction of the morning sun. By her rough estimation, it was probably half past six in the morning. She was due back at G.U.N. at nine, and it was a two hour flight to the city.

"Oh well... At least I'll get some exercise," Rouge groaned.

* * *

It was still dark when Knuckles woke with a start.

'_What the—?_' He blinked, confused.

The Emerald!

Almost feverishly, he closed his eyes, trying to reach the Master Emerald through his sacred bond.

'_Where is it—where is it_?' His face screwed up in panic because he knew that he'd fallen asleep—in front of Batgirl of all people. Batgirl, who he'd foolishly let stay the night because he'd thought…he had thought he could stay awake to watch her—a risk that he as Guardian should have never taken. He should have thrown her off the island as soon as she'd set foot on it. He should have been more suspicious when she didn't leave right away after she—he mentally twitched in shame as he remembered—enticed him. The Master Emerald was long gone by now and Batgirl, herself…

Batgirl was still here…

With a soundless tilt of the head, Knuckles peered down at the soft, warm mass snuggled beside him. A tan, toned arm had been thrown aimlessly around his middle.

The batgirl was still here alright, and so was the Master Emerald.

Sweet relief was the first feeling that rushed into Knuckle's head, but confusion swept in next. First, he had fallen asleep. He had never just fallen asleep when a serious danger to the Master Emerald made its presence known—and Batgirl had proven in the past to be a threat worth taking seriously. She seemed so deceptively innocuous at first, but Knuckles knew that those kicks she possessed had the power to incapacitate him—or worse. And he'd let his guard down around her. Without direct opposition, what could stop her from waiting until he was unconscious, stomping down on his trachea with those steel toed boots of hers, and making off with the Emerald for good? Reviewing that last statement in his mind, Knuckles didn't think she was that evil—stomping on his throat—but she certainly wasn't _good_…

And with a jolt, Knuckles remembered that she certainly wasn't clothed. The sky was too dark to see her clearly, but he already knew what he'd find. Knuckles wasn't quite sure how he should react. She had never stayed so long before, and the natural way her body filled the gaps between them left a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest. However, her presence also invaded his personal space and caused him discomfort for he had never been as physically close to anyone as he was now. A large, irrational part of him wanted to squirm away as if she were made of flypaper.

And then the guilt hit him. He, Knuckles, had allowed himself to be seduced by one of the greatest dangers to his guardianship he'd ever known. Again. As if he still wasn't smarting after all that crap with Eggman years ago. If there were anyone else left of his tribe, he was sure that one of them would have asked him to step down by now.

_Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald… Last of the mighty echidna race… Ultimate patsy for any vixen wearing a skin-tight cat suit._

That's it! He couldn't bear to have any part of her touching him anymore.

Slowly, Knuckles rolled away from Rouge's sleeping form, her arm falling off him with a small plop, and cursed his weakness. Weakness was supposed to be a foreign word to him. Years of solitude and training had made him like the mountain—unyeilding and resolute in his duty. However, his island's current trespasser was water. At first, her actions seemed to have no effect, but like waves of the ocean crashing over a rock, slowly but surely she wore him down. She possessed a horrible talent in reaching past his rigid exterior to tease the socially inexperienced teenager within. And he would always be stupid enough to give himself away by blushing...

'_Wha_—'

Knuckles was thrown out of his brooding by his visitor's sudden movement. Rouge had curled into a ball, no doubt because of the predawn cold brought on by the abrupt disappearance of his body heat. Knuckles grinned. Her fur was much shorter and finer than his. Obviously it was not made to handle the outdoor elements. And to think she thought herself superior to him…

"Not so tough, are you Batgirl?" Knuckles laughed under his breath—then he stopped.

Rouge's right ear, which was previously flat on her head, flew up. Her aquamarine eyes popped open.

'_Oh shi_—!' He'd forgotten that bats had a heightened sense of hearing. Quickly, he shut his eyes to feign sleep.

Wait. Why was he pretending to be asleep? He should be up right now kicking her off his island!

Knuckles then heard the crackle of leaves as his winged rival apparently stood up.

'_Oh great_,' he thought. '_Now she has the advantage_.' It didn't take a master artist with a skill level of Knuckles to know the disadvantages of initiating an attack on someone while lying on the ground, especially when one's adversary specialties were lower body moves. While not afraid to do battle, he really didn't feel like getting stomped on today.

A light chuckle. "Some guardian you are. I could have taken the Emerald in over half a dozen ways by now…"

Now that was enough. Rouge had just threatened to steal the Master Emerald using that very same mouth with which she'd fought to kiss him so many times before. She was positively irredeemable. No sense of loyalty nor duty nor honor…just an overpowering selfishness that he couldn't understand. She had fought alongside he and Sonic and the others many times. She'd seen enemies more powerful than they had ever dreamed commit terrible deeds with just the Chaos Emeralds. How much more dangerous would the Master Emerald's power be in the hands of a villain? Couldn't she leave very much alone? Was she this selfish to ignore the fate of the world if the Emerald were to fall into the wrong hands? This was why he couldn't stand her!

Guilt gave way to dislike which in turn fed determination. Knuckles swore to himself that Rouge would not touch the Master Emerald not today or ever. In fact, today would be the last day she'd ever set foot upon Angel Island. The echidna had previously told himself this many times over, but today, today he was serious. Words meant nothing, but a brief lesson in pain would let Batgirl know that he was serious too.

Cautiously, Knuckles cracked open an eye to examine his surroundings. The first thing he noted with astonishment was Batgirl standing utterly still, doing nothing other than just looking down at him.

Creepy…

It took nearly all of his concentration to keep from moving and possibly exposing the fact that he was awake, and in this situation he desperately needed to retain the element of surprise.

And Batgirl's battier than usual behavior was actually helpful for once as she was standing perfectly motionless. There was a good sized stone near his hand. If he could reach it, then catch Batgirl unawares with a shot to the chest, he'd have a very good chance in winning the resulting fight. A rock thrown with the maximum force at which he could throw from the angle he was currently in would probably not faze Sonic, but Rouge was a creature built to fly, therefore very lightweight. It wouldn't take much to knock her down…

Knuckle's hand slowly crept forward, making shallow trails in the dirt, inching towards the roughened rock when suddenly he heard a soft flap. A soft gust of wind drifted past his face.

Wings!

'_Oh no she won't_!' Violet eyes shot flew as they immediately spotted a Rouge shaped figure quickly disappearing into the distance. Knuckles, in response, jumped up almost as if on fire, ironically both nerves and eyes aflame, and leapt after her.

Rouge could fly at an amazing speed, but not so fast as to outpace Knuckles who knew the best of Angel Island's numerous shortcuts and byways. In under a minute, he was keeping pace soundlessly below her, his eyes focused on her movements.

'_Where is she heading_?' Knuckles knew that Rouge had at least a decent working knowledge about the various locales of Angel Island—likely more than anyone else, even Sonic or Tails. She'd been there often enough, and even if she were confused, she could easily find her position using her aerial advantage. It didn't make sense. Rouge had been there more than enough to know where the Master Emerald's shrine was—

Knuckles stopped. He'd run out of ground to run, and yet Rouge kept on flying.

The Guardian watched her fly. He watched until the black spec her figure eventually became vanished. He stood there a while longer still.

"Good riddance," the guardian muttered in a monotone voice and turned away. He was silent for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Was this a good first start? I need feedback, people! **

**Poor Knuckles and Rouge will need a little time before they develop an understanding between them, although _something_ has already been put in motion... **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks everyone for the reviews, favs, and followings! I really appreciate it! Okay, here we go...**

* * *

Knuckles grunted as he performed his routine pushups. Sweat rained down from his forehead onto the dusty earth; his muscles strained with every movement. The two ton boulder on his back was starting to dig into his shoulders.

But he couldn't stop.

The Guardian of the Master Emerald was required to be forever tough, unrelenting—just like the heat of the sun upon his brow and the impossible weight of the stone upon his back. His struggles against the elements were originally what taught him to be strong, and he hoped that if he pushed himself further he'd become even stronger.

The fact wasn't lost to Knuckles that his enemies were progressively becoming more and more powerful. A villain by the likes of Eggman was laughable compared to the awesome might of Black Doom—in fact the "good" doctor himself was terrified out of his wits during the whole invasion. Once, Knuckles had even posed this realization to Sonic, who of course brushed Knuckles off with his usual nonchalant responses.

'_You shouldn't be all so worked up, Knux. We're the good guys. We always come through in the end_.'

And even worse…

'_If I didn't know better, I'd think you were scared. Ole' Knucklehead… Scared of some big baddy that we haven't even met yet…_'

That remark had earned the blue blur a large knot on the back of the head courtesy of a spiked fist. _The idiot_…

So Knuckles shut his mouth. He had been stupid to express his concerns to Sonic. His longtime friend/rival was much too distracted and carefree to take such things seriously in the echidna's very biased opinion. Tails on the other hand would have listened, but after the Sonic fiasco Knuckles had not felt like speaking to anyone else. To have even expressed his apprehension about the subject at all was an understatement to how bad it was affecting him. To bring up the subject again with a different person was impossible. Even after years of friend-rival-ship, the Guardian was still a little distrustful around others—perhaps the less people to know of his fears, the better.

Therefore the Guardian returned to his island and trained alone, as usual, but he really didn't mind. After all the typical pandemonium involving saving the world, returning to Angel Island seemed like a blessing. The fresh air, the peace and quiet—it was all his and his alone. This paradise, this tranquility was the Master Emerald's personal gift to him in exchange for his perpetual duty, and Knuckles accepted it wholeheartedly.

And then she came.

"_Rouge_…" he hissed, letting the stone drop to the side with an earthshaking rumble before pulling himself up to rest against a tree.

It had been three weeks since her mysterious departure, but the number of days past didn't matter much to Knuckles. Sooner or later she would be back, he was certain. She always came back. In a morbid way, he could count on seeing her even more frequently than Sonic, but he had never once anticipated her arrival—

—until now.

A question burned inside him. And given Batgirl's fickle nature, he wasn't sure whether it would be answered. Even if she chose to answer him, there was no way he could decipher if it was truthful or not. She could easily try to mutilate the truth into something which worked in her favor—in fact; Knuckles knew that Batgirl would most likely do exactly that, although what she could possibly gain from lying he didn't know.

The best thing he could do in this situation was to let the matter drop, but…

The way she had simply gotten up and left… She didn't try to attack him; she didn't try to trick him. Rouge the Bat woke up that day and flew away from Angel Island on her own free will without even taking a glance at the Master Emerald.

_Why_?

It was universally established that she was a selfish, manipulative thief who had never once hesitated to pursue any opportunity to score. And what better opportunity she'd ever have to steal the Master Emerald than that night?

It didn't make sense!

Knuckles swiped the sweat off his brow as he tried to put the question out of his mind for the umpteenth time in three weeks. '_The answer really doesn't matter anyway_,' he tried to rationalize to himself. So Batgirl decided not to steal the Master Emerald that one time. How did that matter? Perhaps finally she was getting the message after years of fighting. Good. If this was true, then that was one less person to worry about threatening his Guardianship.

Perhaps she was trying to fool him into lowering his defenses. Knuckles smirked as he cracked his gloved fists. Not a chance. If all her actions these past few months were designed to wear him down, Batgirl would have another thing coming.

Soon Knuckles would discover that Batgirl indeed had another thing coming; however, it was not anything he could have ever imagined.

* * *

Rouge grit her teeth as she kicked open the doors of G.U.N.'s principle retrieval unit. A dozen bodies, mostly scientists, jumped simultaneously as if on cue.

"Agent Rouge!"

"Shut it!" Rouge growled as she stomped towards the nearest group of frightened scientists, leaving tiny cracks in the ceramic tile below. "I have your precious chip. Here!" With a deft toss of her grimy hand, she threw a small plastic bag.

The frantic scramble to catch it—resulting in three of the scientists accidentally and painfully smashing into each other—made Rouge feel a just little bit better. To recover that chip, she'd had to spend the last three weeks wallowing in muck.

"Agent Rouge…"

Rouge turned around to see one of her superiors standing behind her, gazing down at her with a slightly disappointed expression.

"Sergeant Light…" Rouge replied innocently.

"I see that you encourage reckless endangerment of classified information," the sergeant continued silkily. His dispassionate glare would have terrified many of his subordinates, but not Rouge, who simply rolled her eyes.

"But _Lightie_…" Hearing this sugary sweet butchery of his name caused the sergeant to flinch. Rouge mentally grinned at his visible discomfort. "I spent two weeks cooped up in the Misty Swamp Zone just doing surveillance alone. Rather boring, if you know what I mean. Can ya blame a girl for having a little fun?" She ended the question with a bat of her long, dark eyelashes.

"I don't have time for this, Agent Rouge!" Light steamed. With a surge of satisfaction, Rouge could almost see it blowing out of his ears. She felt justified. Light deserved abuse right now. First, she needed to blow off some steam after that stupid Misty Swamp Zone assignment. There was still filth stuck to her in places which..._really_ made her crave a piping hot shower at the moment.

Secondly was the presence of Sergeant Light himself. His ranking was far too high for him to personally wait on her arrival from her latest mission and yet too low for something truly serious. Therefore she probably wasn't going to be arrested—while not squeaky clean, she'd never done anything truly treasonous to G.U.N.— but whatever his business was with her, at the moment Rouge did not feel like listening. Maybe she'd hear him out after a short rest and a nice cup of tea, but definitely not now. Nevertheless, Rouge quickly pasted on her most predatory smile—which had the desired effect of putting the already uncomfortable sergeant even further on his guard.

"So are you going to tell me what you're here for, Lightie, or am I going to have to pry it from you?" The faster she could find out the reason behind the presence of this idiot, the faster she could leave.

Grunting, the sergeant cleared his throat. "Ahem—yes, Agent Rouge. After the successful completion of the assignment, you are to report immediately to Practice Field 5B for additional training—"

"Additional training?" Rouge interrupted, eyebrow raised in disbelief. "What is this really, Sergeant Light?"

Light blinked. "It is as I stated. You are to report immediately for additional training."

"I am the most productive agent in this whole organization. Ya can't be serious! Additional training from whom? You know as well as I that I can mop the floor with this entire base." This new stupidity from G.U.N. was a clear shot to her pride, and to say that Rouge was becoming a little heated was akin to saying that the sun was just a little hot.

What kind of game were her superiors playing now? This 'additional training' bullshit was nothing but a joke. Rouge's skills easily surpassed the best of her associates years ago. There was no one here who could teach her a thing. And besides, wasn't Practice Field 5B…

Rouge blinked. _What was Practice Field 5B_? Before today, she'd never heard of its existence. Not good.

However, even through her confusion, Rouge noticed her superior looking down at her, a nearly invisible smirk forming at the corner of his mouth._ He was enjoying this_!

"Do you have a problem concerning your orders, Agent Rouge?"

Inwardly, Rouge bristled, but outwardly she smiled.

'_Thank you, Lightie_…'

He'd just given himself away, the idiot…

That smile, that snarky little smile marring the side of his face—Rouge had seen so many times before. It was the smile one produced after the ultimate trap had been sprung, when there was no chance of the victim ever recovering. She herself had worn this little smile many times after defeating a fairly challenging enemy—"fairly" being the operative word since Rouge rarely, if ever, admitted that another was better than she was.

_Poor Sergeant Light… One was supposed to show one's superiority after victory, not while your opponent could still gain the upper hand._ Rouge grinned harder. There was something rotten in the heart of G.U.N., and right now she wouldn't mind knocking a few heads together to find out why.

"Of course not, Lightie. But you do know that I still stink from my time at Misty Swamp. You may not realize it, but I'm very careful about my looks. A lady has to be, you know." Here she paused, checking Sergeant Light's reaction. So far, he seemed to be listening. Good. "And well…" Rouge's voice faltered—on purpose—as she leaned towards Sergeant Light almost conspiratorially. "I don't like arriving in front of my superiors covered in filth. Would you mind if I were to take a quick shower?"

"Your orders were to go to the practice field immediately. I doubt the training instructors mind the way you smell, Agent."

"_Really_?" Rouge leaned even closer so that the tip of her blackened ear tickled the base of his nose. The sergeant involuntarily took a sniff.

"Oh, _Chaos_!" he choked; his hand grabbed both his nose and mouth in a herculean effort to keep down his rising bile.

"Sergeant Light!" Rouge exclaimed innocuously. "Are you alright?"

"F-five minutes! You have five minutes to get yourself cleaned up. Five minutes, Agent Rouge. No monkey business! I swear to you that you will not want me to come after you..."

Ignoring the threatening glare adorning Sergeant Light's flabby face, Rouge hid her delight as she turned away from her superior, making sure to add a little strut to her stride.

'_Ha! The dunderhead_…'

All she had needed was an excuse to get away… Ever one to plan ahead, Rouge had already stashed a few 'helpful items' in various places around the G.U.N. compound—just in case her relations with the organization happened to turn sour one day. She could barely contain her victory smirk before she was interrupted by a harsh call on the facility's central loudspeakers.

"Sergeant Light, you idiot! You're letting her get away! Strike now boys; strike now!"

Rouge's sensitive ears heard the whistling sounds of flying projectiles before the voice had even stopped yelling. She quickly launched herself in the air, expertly dodging the almost invisible darts raining down all around her.

'_Wait. Wha_-?' She questioned in her mind. The room had suddenly been flooded with black clad G.U.N. soldiers, each holding—and shooting—a light blue revolver.

"Stun guns!" Rouge gasped. Well, at least they weren't trying to kill her—as if Rouge could find some comfort in that fact while evading their flying bullets. As her eyes hurriedly darted around the area, she could see multiple exits being sealed, more soldiers bursting inside the room… Rouge's brain fizzled while she hurriedly attempted to come up with a viable escape attempt. If she could discover a opening between the oncoming waves of stunning needles, perhaps she could clear a path through the attacking soldiers and-

And then, the inevitable happened.

Rouge fell.

The persistent onslaught of needles had apparently overwhelmed the rogue bat. In a room far above, a few G.U.N. researchers were congratulating themselves. The Paralyzing G.U.N. formation had been developed long ago as a way to properly contain Project SHADOW-this had of course been formulated during a time before they'd realized that Chaos Control made the plan illogical as the subject could just teleport away from the attack. To know that their carefully developed takedown strategy had been used-and successfully, mind you-caused for a celebration.

Meanwhile, a nondescript soldier had already deftly caught Rouge's limp, falling form. The room fell silent.

"Well, I thought she'd put up more of a fight."

Two pairs of heavy boots walked up. If Rouge could open her eyes, she'd remark on their strict military black shininess. There was a pause where the owners of those black boots gazed down upon their smaller victim.

"Nice work, boys!"

Then a nod to the soldier carrying the prize.

"Take our subject to the Observation Room. We have a couple of researchers already stationed to check her in."

The soldier grunted a quick salute, having his arms occupied, and turned around to walk out of the room. No one noticed the bat's supposedly paralyzed mouth twitch into a tiny smirk.

* * *

On a floating island miles away, a powerful green gem flashed in the darkness.

* * *

**Second chapter up! So, yes, G.U.N. has turned on Rouge! But why? **

**Also, during my research for the story, I looked up information about echidnas... Very interesting... I'll include what I've learned in the next few chapters. Also I dare you to look up facts about the echidna on youtube... **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! Continuing from Knuckles' thoughts and Rouge's capture by G.U.N. Sadly not much of Knuckles in this chapter. I want to write more of him since the guy doesn't get much love. He is either a mushy love sick idiot or a gullible simpleton. That isn't SEGA canon Knuckles at all people. Not saying that I'm perfect at writing IC, but I'm trying... Wah! **

**Alright, on the story... **

* * *

Bright lights illuminated a lone figure lying motionless on a polished steel gurney. The nondescript soldier who had deposited her there had left, leaving her alone after following orders given out by a scratchy loudspeaker hidden in a corner. A couple of G.U.N. scientists were in the next room talking excitedly to one another and gathering supplies…

Little did they know that their would-be test subject wasn't as unconscious as they'd assumed.

Rouge lay still on the gurney's stiff padding, trying her hardest not to shiver in the room's chilly atmosphere. She strained her ears in an attempt to count the number of scientists behind those reinforced walls in the next room. So far, she'd counted three…

_Or was it four?_ The thickness of the walls made it difficult for even her exceptional hearing.

Silently though, Rouge appreciated her luck. After faking her own demise by tranquilizer, she'd been brought here rather than a heavily guarded cell. _But why would she be taken to an observation lab?_ The interrogation cell made much more sense, didn't it?

Rouge pondered this all the while listening to muffled chattering in the next room.

Now just why would she be taken to a research lab?

It made little sense. G.U.N. already knew about her super-Mobian abilities. There was no need to force her to demonstrate _those_—they had been very useful for the agency over the years. And the organization had her DNA on file as a consequence of her first being accepted into the espionage division years ago. To forcibly take samples from her would be absurd.

No, the only thing which the bat concluded that G.U.N. would wish to detain her would be to learn her secrets.

Rouge had discovered much more than she could have ever imagined about the deepest darkest mysteries of the world since that fateful assignment to observe the activities of Dr. Eggman all those years ago. She'd been in the middle of a treasure hunt when her orders were issued, hot in the pursuit of a jewel which was said to have no other equal. At first, after stumbling across some random ancient manuscript detailing its power, Rouge had chalked it up to myth—after all, if one were to believe every hieroglyphic scrawled onto a decaying scrap of papyrus, Mobius would be full of fantastic moon gods and diamond encrusted dodos. A healthy dose of skepticism was good in her vocation.

However, after finishing her last assignment much earlier than expected, she suddenly felt the urge to find this so called Master of the Emeralds. Besides, she'd rationalized, the worst that could happen was that everything would turn out to be a wild goose chase—irritating, but such occurred sometimes, a frustrating but unavoidable part of being a hunter. At best, she'd figured, she would find the Master of the Whosits-whatsits, and it might actually be worth something.

Little did she know that she would find the Master Emerald to be much more than what any dirty old scroll could have ever described.

It was lust at first sight.

As its brilliant verdant perfection seized her eyes, Rouge knew that she must have it. The Master Emerald's ethereal beauty called to her, informing her that compared to its superior grace, every other jewel she'd ever laid hands on was nothing, absolutely worthless. Any jewels measured against it were just pieces of multicolored glass, plastic even… Rouge had to have it, had to hold it. It would be the epitome of her collection, perhaps satisfying a piece of herself which no other multicolored rock could fill…

Unfortunately, before she had had the chance to finish taking that glorious gem home with her, Rouge came face to face with a very red, very irritated obstacle.

Of course, looking back everything wasn't her fault. How was she supposed to know that that floating island was a sacred, restricted area? She'd been expecting at best a handful of ruins and the chance to salvage amongst them the remains of some lost culture. Who would have guessed that the culture wasn't so lost after all? Even more so, who could have imagined that that red guy sometimes seen around Sonic lived there?

_Knuckles_…

Rouge sighed. And then she'd set foot upon that cold emptiness, the space colony ARK, and—

Footsteps.

The bat tensed as she heard an automatic door slide open.

"Hey, Beaker, ya ready to work on our sleeping beauty over here?"

A low chuckle. "After you, Len."

Rouge registered the shallow thuds of their shoes. The one named Beaker's was extremely light, perhaps a fellow Mobian, while Len's had a heavier quality—more than likely an Overlander. She shivered as she heard the low clink of an unknown metal instrument. Anyone who knew the true history of Shadow the Hedgehog and all the things that had been done to him—and the number of people in that category could be counted on one hand—as a result developed a healthy aversion to the idea of government research facilities. A lot of terrible things could be done to a creature by the right kind of scientist and his tools.

The two unsuspecting G.U.N. scientists laid out their shiny, sterilized instruments upon a nearby trolley. Neither of them was able to block her two precise kicks a second later.

Rouge had decided in a split second to take out the Mobian first. He was the one who could generate the most trouble as she had no idea of what type of Mobian he was. Her steel boot dug into his solar plexus, instantly knocking the wind out of his small, furry body. Opening her eyes, Rouge finally identified exactly which kind of Mobian this "Beaker" happened to be.

He was a mouse.

'_More like a rat in this case_…' Rouge muttered to herself.

"Bea-!"

But the mouse's human companion fared no better. Before he'd even finished his scream, Rouge had already used the gurney underneath her as a springboard. The human's jaws clamped shut with a horrible snap as a pair of thick heels slammed into his chin.

Rouge did not stick around to watch him fall. If there was one thing she knew about these observation rooms, it was that there was always someone somewhere else monitoring the situation. That person could be anywhere in the facility and had probably alerted security already.

Now that she was free and storming down the—suspiciously empty—white hallways of G.U.N.'s enormous medical unit, Rouge suddenly felt the urge to dish out some rough justice. A part of her wanted to kick down the doors of the Commander himself and demand answers as to why she was unexpectedly shot down and captured at her own workplace, but first thing's first. Self-preservation was—

Rouge's thoughts were interrupted by a rapid approach of someone running up behind her. The bat froze before spinning around into a more defensive position, her heart hitching in her chest.

A woman materialized around the corner just ahead, and Rouge took the time to absorb the Overlander's appearance. Slightly overweight, stringy yellow hair, oversized lab coat…

_From where could she have come? _

'_Wait_…' Rouge then gazed at the white laboratory coat again.

'_The third scientist_!'

Perhaps she'll find the answers to her questions tonight after all.

All of a sudden the gasping scientist, who was obviously not built for endurance running, looked up. Her and Rouge's eyes met before the former dropped her clipboard in shock and stumbled backwards towards the wall.

Rouge grinned as she stepped forward. Yep, this was definitely going to be easier than she'd thought.

* * *

The Master Emerald was a complicated entity. It was not a living being, and yet the gigantic stone held a unique sort of sentience to which no chaos emerald, and much less any common emerald, could ever come close to attaining.

For a long while now, the Master Emerald had sensed a faint change in its surrounding energy. The feeling was akin to an insignificant, yet constant strain, which was strange to a being which had no nerves to feel basic sensation. The closest the Master Emerald could associate that persistent drag would be the few times when its Guardian would call upon its power to assist him. However, their bond lay dormant at the moment. Its Guardian was currently asleep and in very little danger.

"There is another," stated a young, solemn voice.

**ARE YOU CERTAIN?**

The Master Emerald had considered the possibility, but the probability was very small. And of course, Young Tikal was biased. Four millennia of dwelling within the confines of the Master Emerald had not erased the loyalties gained from fourteen years of existing as an echidna of the Knuckles Tribe.

"Yes."

**VERY WELL. **

Never one to hesitate, the Master Emerald carefully spread its senses.

Soon after, Knuckles the Echidna was jarred awake by the flurry of telepathic images being forced into his head.

* * *

"Pleasepleaseplease, don't hurt me! I'll do whatever you want!"

Rouge cocked an invisible eyebrow. There the white bat stood, hands on her hips, in front of the pleading scientist who was on her knees and making quite a show in begging for mercy.

"Now listen, I—"

"No, please!" the blonde cried, her forehead scraping the earth in a low bow. "I beg of you to spare me. My superior made me participate in this I swear…"

Looking down at her quivering bowed head made Rouge feel uncomfortable. She had only walked up to this girl, and the lady started crying her eyes out like she was Shadow and in the middle of threatening her with a chaos blast.

Rouge groaned and turned her head away in annoyance. "Jeez, lady… Get up, will ya?"

"Please, please, please, don't hurt me…"

"_And I thought you said you'd do whatever I want_…" Rouge muttered darkly under her breath; however she sighed as the scientist continued to cry and squeak for mercy. "Alright, fine… Look. I'm not going to harm you. I just want answers as to why—"

Rouge's sensitive ears picked up the familiar whirring of approaching machinery.

_Damn. Combat 'bots… _

"Okay, Blondie, it's time to go." The bat grabbed the scientist's hand and pulled the larger woman up from the floor.

"W-wait! No! What's happening? Please-"

However, Rouge's patience was beginning to wear thin. "No time! Quick, direct me to the path with the nearest exit."

"Wha-?" This, the notion of her would-be test subject away from her, if nothing else seemed to break the collapsed scientist out of her broken pleas for mercy. "It's um, um, that way!" Her oversized white sleeves pointed down the brightly lit hallway behind her…

-and directly in the path of the approaching robots. Rouge nearly facepalmed.

"Nice…" the bat hissed through clenched teeth. "Now tell me where the _second_ most direct path to the nearest exit is."

Blondie was noticeably quicker on the uptake this time. "T-to the left, down the hallway… You'll come up to another hallway on the right. Take it, and you'd come out near some exit. I-I don't know which-"

"Alright, but you're coming with me," stated Rouge, dragging the reluctant scientist away with her as she started to run.

"B-but why? You know the way to get out now. Why me?"

Rouge looked back at the heaving blonde with a sardonic grin. "Think of it as…_insurance_…just in case you're steering me in the wrong direction. And don't forget you owe me a few answers for my being in this mess in the first place."

For a long moment nothing could be heard except for the sharp clacking of Rouge's heels rapping against the floor and the scientist's slight wheezing. Apparently physical fitness wasn't a requirement for employment at certain sectors in the G.U.N. organization. Fortunately, the uncomfortable near silence didn't last long.

"So what do you want to know?" the blonde said flatly. Her tone told Rouge that all forms of evasion and bullshit were off the table. This G.U.N. employee had definitely weighed her choices and found that the option of protecting G.U.N. wanting.

"Oh, I don't know…" Rouge spat as she raced down the nearest passageway to the right, her ears full of approaching robots, "Why don't ya start at the part where my own employers tried to abduct me and just go along from there?"

"F-fine…" hissed the scientist in return. Rouge could feel the daggers of the blonde's eyes pressing into her back. They both knew what she was risking, releasing G.U.N. secrets. "I don't know the whole story, but from details within the briefing Beaker, Len, and I all received, R and D secretly installed a camera within robotic agent E-123 Omega-"

Rouge's eyes widened in shock. "How?"

A smirk in response. "You didn't know."

"_How_? Omega's sentient. He would've known!"

"_**It**__ may be_ sentient, but _it_ is still a robot. After one learns the circuitry behind a machine, it's rather easy to deactivate it for a period of time, but I'm sure you already know this."

Rouge felt a small plume of fury flare up within her as the blonde's voice gradually regained the cold, professional tone she must have possessed under usual circumstances—a voice whose owner could very easily hold a scalpel next to an unconscious, innocent bat. The thought of a bunch of stuffy white-coats rummaging around inside Omega only fed the fire. That robot had done more in its brief life than any of those scoundrels could ever achieve. The injustice of it all stung.

"The higher-ups were concerned about you and Agent Shadow, you know."

At this Rouge scoffed as she rounded yet another corner, her grip tightening around the blonde's wrist. _As if she didn't know this already…_

"Ow! M-my hand!"

Rouge smirked. "Deal with it, Blondie. Now go on with the story."

"G-G.U.N. c-can't control you. Y-you have no family to be concerned about, no close friends; there was nothing G.U.N could use to contain you if either of you went rogue. So th-they decided to observe you two for weaknesses. They implanted a camera within robotic agent E-123 Omega as he frequently joined either or both of you during missions... For a long time, no viable data was gathered." It was then that the blonde paused and managed to take in a deep, raggedy breath. "However, a month ago, camera X540 Advanced series implanted within robotic agent E-123 Omega did catch something. It was-"

* * *

_Clear blue eyes stared at him hungrily… She had dodged his jab with ease and then responded with a kick to the stomach. He had gone down with a thud. _

_Damn, she hit hard. _

_He'd attempted to rise again but found himself weighed down by a warm mass across his middle. Frustration. He tried to knock her off with a punch aimed at her chest. She leaned back and evaded his fists before meeting his eyes with a smirk of triumph. There was something oddly possessive in her eyes. _

_**Try as you might I have you right where I want you.**_

_She really was a worthy adversary. He felt alive, lying there underneath her. He liked it. _

_**Think again, Batgirl. **_

_Too bad for her he wasn't going to let her win so easily. She had forgotten about his arms. It was time to remind her. In less than a second he grabbed her toned arms and knocked her over, her back sinking into some soft moss nearby. Quickly, he then flipped over and mimicked her previous actions by purposefully sitting on her middle. _

_**Ha! Now how do you like a taste of your own medicine?**_

_He certainly liked it. Chest slightly heaving in a way that had nothing to do with exhaustion, he had never been more alive than at this moment. The fire in his blood had blossomed into something he'd come to recognize. And she knew it. She bit her pink bottom lip in expectation, her eyes open and honest for a split second before lowering into their trademark seductive gaze. _

_**You know you like me, don't you Knuckles? **_

At one point in time, not even an hour ago, Knuckles the Echidna would have felt guilt upon reliving those vivid memories, but not now. Not anymore.

His muscular form could barely contain the quiet excitement welling up with him. The fact that his face remained unchanged was a powerful testament to the strength of his will. Any notion of returning to bed was squashed immediately.

_Sleep? Who could sleep now?_ The Master Emerald, now that the source of its previous disturbance had been discovered, could provide him regular updates—almost as if the massive jewel was a twenty-four hour continuous newsfeed. And for the next few hours Knuckles tuned in periodically, still in mild disbelief.

It wasn't until dawn that the echidna collected himself. Five minutes after that he leapt off the side of Angel Island.

* * *

**The last part was influenced by _"I Want You_" the theme of Scanty and Kneesocks from _Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt_. If you look this song up, I advise you not to search for the anime unless you're ready for _very_ mature themes. **

**Thanks very much for reading. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think of the chapter. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four. More plot progression! **

* * *

_Shatter_!

Rouge winced as she felt the stinging of hundreds of shards of glass rain down upon her unprotected figure—_charging through that window hadn't been the brightest of ideas_—but the sound of gunshots whizzing behind her warned of a fate much worse than a few scattered lacerations. Without a second thought, she dove into the chilly night air, wings spread almost instantly to catch an updraft—

Behind her, a shrill scream erupted through the ruined window of what used to be a fourteenth floor office on the upper east side of G.U.N.'s main building.

No doubt it was that scientist being detained by the mechs that were chasing Rouge earlier. Rouge smirked. All that fuss, and the scientist barely had anything serious to worry about. More than likely Blondie was going to be interrogated about her brief time with the escapee Rouge before being let go with a slap on the wrist—perhaps even a demotion if the higher-ups were pissed enough.

However, G.U.N. interrogation chambers weren't exactly a walk in the park. Luckily for Rouge, the bat had made sure not to divulge any word as to where she heading next. Unfortunately for Blondie, however, the scientist had coughed up everything.

Hopefully the scientist was strong enough not to crack under pressure and reveal that she'd blabbed to Rouge a good amount of classified information.

_Hopefully_…

But the bat could not be concerned about the welfare of Blondie or anyone else at the moment. G.U.N. had discovered her breach through the window and had now diverted their forces to the skies.

Searchlights sliced the air around her, but Rouge's lithe body twisted to and fro as she flew, stealthily avoiding the bright, cold beams. She heard the shouting of troops mobilizing way below on the grounds. High up, nothing but a faint speck of white in the night sky, Rouge grinned before diving into a nearby clump of trees.

They would never find her in here.

Long ago, high ranking officers of the G.U.N. organization had chosen this broad wooded hillside, suitably adjacent to both the Mystic Ruins and that spur of civilization, Station Square, as the ideal location for the construction of a covert military base. Fortunately for Rouge, the miles and miles of uninhabited forest provided the perfect cover for escape.

Damp leaves and stray branches scratched across her face as she flitted through the forest's dark canopy.

"Eugh!" She spat out a bitter leaf which had somehow forced its way into her mouth. Roughing it outdoors was never her forte, but she had to admit that her natural echolocation came in handy in an environment such as this. It was much better than what her pursuers had to rely on. G.U.N. had not let up the chase so easily just because their subject had disappeared into the night.

The searchlights which, back at base, had been flashing at her from the ground were now being beamed out of helicopters. The copters themselves were near invisible in the dark, but the wind and the lights they carried cut through the tops of the trees like a knife through butter. Rouge, however, was not concerned about aircraft.

Rouge's ears had already picked up the distant metallic jerking of approaching mechs, each which were more than likely equipped with heat sensors and a machine gun. It was one thing to evade a squad of helicopters, but it was quite another to sneak past a pack of heat sensors—that is, the first being rather straightforward while the latter impossible. Rouge could no better hide her own body heat than she could hide being a bat.

_Damn. Why couldn't Shadow have been present at work today? _

She could really use a chaos blast or two as a distraction right now to get some of these G.U.N. soldiers off her back.

A searchlight swept awfully close to her hiding place, and Rouge sighed. It really couldn't be helped. Once again she was down to nothing but herself and her skills to ensure her survival. Her practical mind emphasized that giving her employers the slip was the most important thing at the moment. Getting together with her teammates to dish out some righteous revenge could wait.

Carefully she crept out from behind the barrel of a giant of a tree. The key to evading a search party, she knew, was to simply wait. In due course, distance would create gaps between the lines of soldiers. As they moved further away from base, they moved further away from each other. Within those gaps was where Rouge planned to disappear.

Quietly, the bat kept close to the underbrush and waited.

* * *

The sky was brightening in the east when Rouge first laid eyes upon her temporary haven, and it was quite an atypical one. Squashed sloppily between a dilapidated Laundromat and a liquor store, its brick façade was stained gray from dirt and age. Still, its interior already held a few hungry customers in spite of the early hour, and the greasy smoke puffing out of its crooked smokestack was even now adding to morning smog.

Heels clicking on the cracked pavement, Rouge opened the front door.

A cheery jingle signaled her entrance, causing a few Mobians to turn around and stare. Bits of dried mud and leaves lay splattered deep within her fur and clothing from her hours deep in the woods. Her entire body had accumulated a light dusting of brown. At that moment, Rouge was a far cry from the glamorous exterior she usually exhibited.

But she didn't care.

As casually as ever, Rouge sashayed to the scratched, beige counter, gingerly slid into one of the hard plastic stools in front of it, and tapped the service bell.

The building's sole cook took his time before answering her call.

"Thirty-Ninth Street Diner. What d'ya want, _Miss_?" The cook slurred lazily, leaning over the rickety counter, his red eyes boring into Rouge's.

"The best breakfast special you got in this place," Rouge answered. "Oh, and a newspaper. Today's."

The cook's face hardened as he heard her request, but it slackened in surprise when, quick as a flash, she pulled out a suspiciously unsoiled bill out of her heart shaped breastplate. Then he grinned—as Rouge knew he would. She'd dealt with many like the cook before.

"You think that'll be a problem?" Rouge added sweetly. The dollar signs bulging out of his eyes were so obvious even a child would notice.

"A problem? Pshaw! Not for a gorgeous dame like yourself, Ma'am." The cook snatched up the bill almost as fast as Rouge laid it down.

Rouge feigned a coquettish smile. "And how fast will my order be ready? I'm afraid I have to go powder my nose." Here her dirty gloves tapped her dusty snout. She was due for a good old fashioned sink bath. "Where's your nearest bathroom?"

With the money safely hidden away in his stained shirt pocket, the cook wasn't as forthcoming as before, but he did point to a plain wooden door hidden neatly in a corner.

Rouge nodded and hopped off her stool, heading towards the diner's only bathroom. As she walked, she silently observed her surroundings. None of the scant patrons of the Thirty-Ninth Street Diner gave as much as a second glance at her disheveled appearance—in fact, one or two without a doubt looked much worse than her at the moment—and inwardly Rouge relaxed. This was the type environment which she'd been looking for after having temporarily given G.U.N. the slip and double-backing to Station Square.

Of course, the agency would be still searching for her, and the most logical place to start would be Station Square due to its close proximity to the compound. Rouge had contemplated this during her long flight through the night and ultimately decided to lay low for a few hours and stake out the situation. She would need someplace small, unassuming, out of the way—and especially, someplace shifty, very shifty. Looking around, most of the bums in here probably had rap sheets longer than Nack the Weasel's—not exactly the type to go around blabbing to investigators.

"Hey, Miss!"

Rouge turned around.

It was the surly cook again, but this time he held a thick bundle in his hands.

"Yer paper," he grinned. "Lookin' at the funnies always helps the time go by for me when I'm on the can."

Trying hard not to wince at the cook's toilet rituals, Rouge stared first at the newspaper and then at the man holding it who was looking for all the world like little boy about to receive a shiny new dollar for his troubles. However, recovering quickly, she snatched the printed offering out of his hands and unfurled the thick bundle of paper.

What she saw first made her heart drop to her ankles.

* * *

_**CITY WIDE ALERT: **_

_**Dangerous Felon Escapes From Cell**_

_Station Star Daily has recently been notified by authorities concerning the recent escape of the notorious thief yet rumored world hero Rouge the Bat, who had finally been successfully captured yesterday, six years after the infamous botched attempt to steal the Hope Diamond from the Articus Museum. Rouge is described as a white female bat with dark wings—_

* * *

Even more horrifying, there was an enormous black and white headshot of herself taking up a third of the entire page. The photo itself was somewhat blurry, but the likeness, however, was still strong.

It was then that Rouge knew she didn't have much time left in Station Square.

* * *

Knuckles' shoes landed hard on the dark pavement, the impact delivering a rough shock wave from his feet all the way to his kneecaps. The echidna grumbled under his breath, giving his legs a few good kicks to work out the kinks. His knees cracked as they returned to their normal limberness. Although paved roads were necessary to the world outside his domain, in Knuckles' opinion nothing could compare to the natural feel of earth and grass. Landing on them was much more forgiving on the knees.

Straightening up, Knuckles looked up to the small, but heavily modified blue biplane humming above his head. He gave its pilot a curt nod, and the young fox eagerly waved back before turning around in a smooth circle, heading in the direction of the Mystic Ruins.

He owed Tails one for this. It would have taken him hours to reach Station Square by foot, and gliding was not feasible for long distance travel. Luckily, Tails was the type of Mobian to always help out a friend, in spite of Knuckles' calm avoidance to all his queries as to why the echidna wanted help in the first place.

Eventually, Tails had squashed his natural inquisitiveness and let him be, although Knuckles was sure that Sonic was going to hear about all of this sooner or later. The last thing he needed was for the Blue Blur to learn about another one of his faux-pas—the Eggman incidents were still being brought up even now.

As he entered the bustling outskirts of the Station Square, Knuckles couldn't help but think that this was all Rouge's fault.

At this, he paused.

_Perhaps, mostly Rouge's fault_.

Looking back, he could admit to himself that as a Guardian he should have possessed more willpower in resisting her feminine charms. But, while Batgirl might have won that round, she'd severely slipped up in the process.

Knuckles briefly wondered did she know it already.

_Probably not. _

She would have doubtless shown back up at Angel Island, extremely pissed, weeks ago if she'd known, but then again, Knuckles could admit that he did not know Rouge very well despite their years of rivalry. Rouge the Bat was, obviously, a bat, who wore somewhat revealing clothing and had a penchant for both stealing jewels and getting what she wanted. In almost three years he hadn't learned much else about her. Chaos knew how she would react in a situation like this...

Having never been placed into this position before, Knuckles himself wasn't sure how he should handle it. He had long since wrestled his previous excitement down into submission, but nevertheless, he felt a jolt of nervousness shooting up his spine every so often.

_In his position, who wouldn't?_

It steadied his mind to think of the Master Emerald. After all, in a way he was securing its protection in the future, and, like always, safeguarding the Master Emerald instantly superseded any personal feelings he might have had.

Still, it didn't completely stop him from mulling everything over and over in his head.

The sun drifted higher in the sky, its waxing light causing the skyscrapers in the distant downtown district to shimmer. As he turned down a side street, Knuckles noted that the houses lining the passing blocks were gradually becoming filthier, more ancient. The scraggly buildings seemed to sag with age and despair. _Did Rouge actually live in such a trashy area as this?_

Knuckles shook his head. He couldn't believe it.

He imagined Rouge residing in nothing less than a penthouse suite downtown in all its gilded glory. She'd never seemed like the type to forgo her creature comforts.

And she was nearby.

As Knuckles closed in, the impending building was a moldy, dusty gray. A dimly lit sign flashed the words "Thirty-Ninth Street Diner" etched out in large, clunky letters.

'_Jeez. Batgirl eats here?_'

The place was essentially a dump—even in Knuckles' opinion, in spite of his lack of experience in five-star dining. Still, the echidna was not one to be perturbed by insignificant details while on a mission. He pushed the door open.

Immediately all eyes were upon him. He was, after all, Knuckles the Echidna, many times world hero and fairly easy to recognize. It was probably only due to the time of day that he hadn't already been spotted and harassed by eager fans while walking outside.

The entire diner immediately broke out into hushed whispers. Many of the patrons either gave him variations of the standard nod of approval or refused to meet his eye. One greasy man wearing an apron was trying to unhook a weathered camera from its hook on a nearby wall. Even the food frying in the back seemed to sizzle softer than before—not that Knuckles remotely cared about any of these things happening around him. Only one white bat seated in the very back gazed sharply back at him.

Finally.

Her eyes followed Knuckles' figure as he approached, confusion wholly apparent on her face. For once, Rouge the Bat could be read as plain as day. If there were someone she'd expected to meet today, that person sure as Chaos wasn't him.

"Knucklehead," she smirked, but Knuckles observed that she wasn't as confident as she would have liked him to believe. A sea of apprehension stormed beneath her pretty features.

"Batgirl," he answered automatically.

_Now what?_ He was here, and she was there. It was time to get everything over with and tell her-

"I never would have thought that you would be after me too, Knucklehead. I thought you considered yourself one of the 'good guys.'" Rouge looked up at him, her face instantly wary of the possibility of anything occurring at anytime.

Knuckles studied her as she spoke. She was noticeably thinner than he'd last seen her, hollowed out, and it did not help that she was covered with patches of dried mud and leaves. _Just what had she gotten up to within the last month?_

"'Good guy' or not, my duty first and foremost is to guard the Master Emerald," Knuckles stated, shuffling his feet as he stood, arms crossed, beside the table. There was a pause. "You said that someone is after you?"

"It seems as if I am suddenly a hot commodity." Rouge's upper lip curled bitterly. "More so than usual."

"_Hot commodity_…" Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You flatter yourself. So I guess somebody out there has finally had enough of your thievery and is about to hunt you down. It was only a matter of time before someone did that."

"Oh, _like you_?" That playful grin was again plastered upon her face. "You're the big bad echidna who is going to hunt me down for trying to take _my_ Emerald? Just why else would you be here? Are you here on behalf of that Emerald, or…_something else_?" Her voice had steadily lowered to a mockingly seductive rumble; the last two words were almost a whisper.

Knuckles, however, looked her straight between the eyes quite unaffected. _Was this what the once mighty Knuckles Tribe has come down to?_

"You're expecting. I only came down here to discuss what happens next."

Rouge's fork dropped onto her plate with a clatter.

* * *

**As I stated before, major plot progression. Thanks for reading. This fic is like a challenge for me. I wanted to write a shipping fic, but as in character as I can make it. Therefore, expect things not found in your standard shipping fic. It's a challenge, but I'm rather enjoying it. **


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